Fate: Collide
by An Orange Peon
Summary: When Shirou woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar house full of unfamiliar people and with not a clue of how he had gotten there. Well, not all of them were unfamiliar. There was one person that he recognized. But that only begged the question: How was Illyasviel still alive? (Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya crossover)


It was the warmth of the sunlight streaming through the windows that woke me up; it was the unusual sensation underneath me that caused me to stir.

At first, I could not put my finger to what it was that I was feeling as I laid there in my bed. I only knew that something was different now than it normally was. It wasn't anything bad or uncomfortable, and it was even a little familiar to me. What was it?

I yawned and blinked my eyes open, rolled onto my side to check my alarm clock, and then at last I realized just what it was that was bothering me so much.

My body snapped up so fast I felt a sharp pain run through my neck and shoulder. My sleep-stiffened joints and muscles groaned from being jerked so abruptly. I did my best to ignore it as I looked at my bed and touched it as though it was my first time seeing it.

Scratch that: it _was_ my first time seeing it.

I wasn't lying on my futon on the ground. I had been sleeping on a raised western-style bed with a thick, fluffy mattress and a soft pillow. I crawled out of the bed and stepped away from it, staring at it still like it was some kind of monster. Eventually, I managed to tear my eyes away to take a closer look around the room.

On the opposite side of the bed was a white desk with an elevated shelf. The shelf was lined with books, and there was a smaller stack of textbooks on the tabletop sitting next to a closed laptop. Laid out on top of the desk chair was a Homurahara Academy uniform. I went over to it and picked it up. It was just my size.

Had I perhaps woken up in Rin's mansion again? Last time I did was when I had nearly been killed by Saber when she had been under Caster's thrall. Everything had been hazy with pain then, so I don't exactly remember what her house was like, but I do remember it was western-style like this.

I set my uniform down and tried hard to recall how I had gotten here.

I remembered the Holy Grail War. I remembered fighting Gilgamesh. I remembered him acknowledging his defeat, even as he prepared to finish me off. And then... nothing. I don't recall a single thing after that.

Maybe I had passed out from overexertion. Yeah, with as hard as that battle was, that was a definite possibility. And then, once I had passed out, maybe Rin or Saber had saved me and finished Gilgamesh off before bringing me to here to recover. That must be it.

It was unusually thoughtful of them to bring my school uniform and textbooks too. I hope they'll understand if I decide to waste their effort by skipping school today, though. My body felt light and healthy – something I'll have to thank Rin for, I'm sure. She must have healed all my wounds – but I was still mentally exhausted. Today, I just wanted to take it easy and relax.

Well, I'm sure Rin and Saber wouldn't mind. It's Taiga I would have to worry about.

… Maybe I should just go to school after all. It would be too much trouble setting animal control to speed dial, for in case of an emergency.

"Oh, wait a second," I said as a thought suddenly struck me.

If I had been saved, then Saber must have managed to destroy the Holy Grail once and for all. With it gone, Saber must have already returned to her own time.

That made me sad. I never properly thanked her for everything she had done for me, and I never said goodbye.

There was nothing I could do about that now, so I swallowed down the feeling of disappointment and shook my head to clear my mind. First of all, I should go see Rin. She could fill me in on what happened after I fainted.

I left the room to go downstairs. The unease inside me was becoming stronger. Disoriented though I had been last time, I definitely did not recall Rin's home looking like this. Even if I was just imagining things in terms of décor, Rin's mansion was... well, a mansion: It was _definitely_ not this small. This was just a regular two-story house.

The smell of something delicious reached me from the kitchen before I even made it down to the first floor. I briefly closed my eyes to better capture the aroma. There was bacon and eggs and toast, along with a few other things that I couldn't recognize because of how it intertwined with the other scents.

It reminded me of something Sakura would cook. But there was no way Sakura would be here in this strange house, right?

Though if she was, that would mean I had woken up very late today. Judging from the sound of food being slid onto plates, it sounded like she was already done.

I reached the kitchen and I was pleased to find that I had been mostly right with my guesses as to the menu. I was a little less pleased to find that it wasn't Sakura, but rather a beautiful and completely unfamiliar woman in an apron doing the cooking.

Actually, she wasn't entirely unfamiliar. Her pure white skin, soft silver hair, and her deeply crimson eyes were exactly like Illyasviel von Einzbern.

I shut down on that line of thought as fast as I could. If I dwelled on it too long, I started to feel angry at myself. If I told Rin about this, she would have called me stupid and that I shouldn't be stuck in the past, that there was nothing I could have done... but I still can't help but wonder: if I had been stronger back then, couldn't I have saved that little girl in white from Gilgamesh? The more I thought about it, the more I began to blame myself.

I held back a sigh and tentatively called out to the foreign beauty with a greeting.

"Good morning," I said to her as I entered the kitchen.

The woman looked up at me and scowled.

"Shirou," she barked harshly. "What are you doing in your pajamas still? Don't tell me that you _just_ woke up?"

"Ah... yes?" I replied uncertainly.

It sounded like this woman knew who I was, which was good, because that at least made one of us. Maybe she was someone I once met and then forgot about? No, that was impossible. There's no way I'd forget someone who radiated such an overbearing motherly aura. I wonder what it would be like to have both her and Taiga in the same room. I'm sure their battles would have been legendary.

"Geez," the woman clicked her tongue irritably. "As the eldest son of the household, you must set a proper example for your sister. And that means that you mustn't wake up so late on a school day. Be more responsible. Now hurry up and go get washed and dressed."

Eldest son of the household? Last I checked, I was the _only_ child of the Emiya household. Things were just getting stranger and stranger.

"Actually, I'm not feeling very well today," I said. "I was thinking I'd skip school... for today... maybe?" I trailed off, wilting beneath the glare the woman in white gave me.

"Hmm..." The woman walked over to me and put one hand to my forehead and the other on her own. Her hand was cool like snow and her skin was unbelievably smooth. I blushed. It couldn't be helped if I felt embarrassed, especially with how close she was standing to me. I could even count her long eyelashes from this distance.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I tried to back away from her.

"It doesn't feel like you have a cold or a fever," she said. "Go get dressed. I'll give you some medicine after you finish eating. You can call me if you start to feel worse at school."

I realized that there was no use arguing with this foreigner and nodded in resignation. This was probably for the best anyway. I should get out of this weird house and go to school. I'll be able to talk to Rin there and get some answers from her then.

I turned around and went back up the stairs, and then froze halfway up.

My eyes widened until I was sure they would pop out of their sockets and my breath caught in my throat. My mind whirled, total chaos, because there, standing at the top of the staircase, was a ghost: the white girl, dressed in the uniform of the primary school branch of Homurahara Academy.

"Good morning, _Onii-chan,_ " Illyasviel von Einzbern chirped with a bright smile. She walked down, gave me a quick hug, and then headed to the dining room. "Good morning, Sella," I heard her distantly.

My feet remained rooted where they were for a minute longer before they finally creaked back into motion. Automatically, they finished the climb and took me the bathroom. It took me three tries before I found it. I looked at the toothbrushes and cups by the sink and hesitated. I wasn't sure which one was mine, so I rummaged through the drawers beneath the sink until I found where all the new brushes were stored and used one of those instead, cupping the water into my hands and rinsing my mouth with that instead of one of the cups.

Once I had finished brushing my teeth, washing my face, getting dressed, and shoving the textbooks into a backpack, I went back downstairs. A second woman had joined Sella and Illyasviel at the table. Like Sella, she had white skin, silver hair, and red eyes. She had her hair cut shorter, however, and looked like she was about to doze off right where she sat.

But it was to Illyasviel I found my eyes wandering back to. I didn't understand it. How had she come back to life? I had seen her heart get ripped out of her body. I had watched her _die._ And why did she call me her big brother? I mean, she had called me that before, but that had been with a touch of sarcasm, as though she was saying it only to tease me. The way she had said it just now was as though we were truly siblings.

Nothing was making sense.

"Shirou," Sella scowled when she noticed me standing there. "It's rude to stare. Sit down and eat."

"I... I'm not hungry," I stammered out. "I'm going to school first."

"Ah, wait," Illyasviel said. "Let me finish eating and I'll go with you, _Onii-chan._ "

There. She did it again.

"No, no. You just... you take your time," I said quickly. "I have to go. Bye."

Before she could reply, I escaped from that house. I felt cowardly running away like that, but I ignored that feeling. For now, I needed to get to school. I sprinted and didn't stop until I had reached the school grounds. By then sweat was beading my brow and my chest was rising and falling rapidly. My throat burned, too. The other students were giving me curious looks. I ignored that as well. Right now, there was only one thing I was interested in. I headed straight for Rin's classroom.

Because I had woken up later than I usually did, there were already a fair amount of people milling about in the school and in the classroom. When I opened the sliding door and peeked inside, it was already mostly full. Rin wasn't there, however, so I got the attention of one of the girls in the classroom and asked her, "Have you seen Rin?"

"Rin?" She tilted her head quizzically. "Oh, you mean Rin Tohsaka."

"Yeah, her." That was an unexpected response. Normally, if I were to ask someone about Rin, they would immediately think of Rin Tohsaka. She was one of the most well known students in the school, both for her grades and her looks. Someone considering her as just an afterthought was... well, actually, it was kind of funny.

"Are you asking if I've seen her on, like, Mixi or Facebook or something?"

"What?" My brows furrowed deeply. "No, I mean if you've seen her today yet."

The girl frowned. "Nobody has seen her since she moved to London, like, three years ago."

"London?" I repeated blankly. My head felt like it was about ready to blow up. "Three years ago?"

"Yeah." The girl was looking at me like I was crazy. I guess if I were in her shoes, I would too. The guy who was three years too late in striking up a conversation with a girl. Sounds about right. "Oh, though now that you mention it, I did hear that she recently came back to Japan. Is that why you were asking?"

"Something like that," I said. "Okay. Thanks anyway."

"You're welcome."

I left the classroom and went towards mine. Or at least, I assumed it was mine. I honestly wasn't sure what was what anymore, because when I got there I did not recognize any of the other students. It wasn't until a teacher I've never met came and took attendance that I was able to confirm that I was in the right room.

I didn't pay much attention to the teacher's lesson, nor the teacher after him or the one after her – I was too focused on the clock, tapping my finger impatiently on the desk. When it finally rang, signaling the start of the lunch hour, I checked Rin's classroom one more time before leaving the school and jogging to her mansion.

When I got there, I was relieved to find that there was a light on in one of the rooms. Rin was home. I pushed past the gate and knocked on the door and waited until I heard footsteps. The door opened.

"Shirou?" Rin looked at me with surprise. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I needed to talk to you."

"I can see that. Well, come in. I'll get you some tea."

Rin stood aside to let me pass. I sat down in her living room while she came back with a tray of a teapot and two teacups. She carefully poured out a drink for both of us. I accepted mine gratefully and took a sip.

"It's been a long time, Shirou," Rin said as she sat down on a couch opposite to me, slowly turning her tea in hand. "How have you been?"

I nearly choked on my drink.

"Are you all right?" she asked me.

"Yeah, sorry," I coughed. "Rin, what do you mean it's been a long time?"

We had just seen each other the day before... right?

"What do you mean what do I mean?" Rin frowned. "I mean exactly what I said. It's been three years since we last went to school together. Or, what, are you saying that's not a long time for you?"

My face paled and I set the teacup down with trembling hands. At last, something in my head was beginning to click together. I could see where this was going, even if I still couldn't believe it myself.

"No, it's nothing." I stood up. "Sorry for bothering you."

"Wait, are you leaving already?" Rin said indignantly. "You just got here."

"I was just checking in on a rumor," I replied. "I heard you came back from London and I wanted to see if it was true. I need to get back to school now, though."

" _Heeeeh?"_ A mischievous look crossed her face. Oh, I recognized that expression. It was the one Rin always wore whenever she was about to say something that would make me regret whatever it was I did or said and make me feel like an idiot. Rin's face could be oddly specific like that. "So you heard I was back in town and rushed out of school just to come see little ol' me? That's sweet of you."

"Shut up," I said, blushing despite myself. "Anyway, you're here, I saw you, we talked, now I got to go. See you later."

"Yes," she smiled that knowing smile that made me dread for the future. "I'll see you soon."

I wonder what she meant by those words? No, don't think about it. It's for the best if I don't try to untangle the meaning of whatever cryptic things Rin says, for the sake of my sanity. Focus. I have bigger problems at hand.

I walked away, not towards the school, but towards my house. _My_ house, not the house that I woke up in this morning, but the place my father left me when he died, the place I had lived most of my life in. I didn't find it there, though. Where my home ought to have been, there were rows of suburban houses instead. They weren't new either. Judging from the signs of age on the walls roofs, they had been there for many years.

The unease that had been simmering inside me all morning was now boiling over into a full-blown panic.

I rushed back to _that_ house and found Sella inside, vacuuming, while the other woman in white watched the TV.

"You're back early," Sella said, surprised. She shut off the vacuum. "I told you to call me if you were feeling sick. I could have gone to pick you up."

"I can walk back on my own, at least." I took off my shoes at the door and walked inside. "I'm going to get some water and then sleep." Maybe all this would begin to make sense once I've had a bit of rest.

"I'll get some for you," Sella said. "And some medicine, too. Didn't I tell you to have some after breakfast?"

"Sorry. And thanks."

Sella disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a cup of water and a bottle of fever medication. I took the cup and tilted my head back to drink the water in a single go. Then I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Shirou," Sella scowled, "that kind of crass drinking is unfitting of the eldest son. Even if you're feeling sick, you must observe proper etiquette. Understand?"

"Eldest son," I murmured. "Um... Sella...? This is going to be a weird question, but can you tell me more about what you mean by that?"

The white woman frowned even more deeply, but she nodded in acquiescence. "Although you may be an Emiya due to your father adopting you, you are still the eldest son of the Einzbern household by way of marriage between Kiritsugu and Lady Irisviel..."

"Hold on there," I interjected. "If you're saying that he got married, are you trying to say that Kiritsugu is... that my father is..."

That he's alive?

"Kiritsugu and Lady Irisviel are off on a business trip in Europe at the moment," Sella said, misunderstanding what I was trying to say. "Honestly, you've been acting strange since this morning. Hurry up and take your medicine and then go to bed."

"Bed... yeah... sure..." I took the medicine from Sella and headed upstairs, back to the room I had woken up in. I slung off my backpack and sat down on the bed, slumping and burying my head in my hands. Many things were running through my confused brain right now.

A strange house. Illyasviel, alive. We were family. Rin had only just come back to Fuyuki. My house was gone. Kiritsugu was also alive and married...

There was no way.

It was the only way.

This was impossible.

There was no other explanation.

I had to face the facts. Although I did not know how nor why, the truth was laid bare for me to see – I only had to admit it:

I was no longer in my world.


End file.
